Thursday, May 2, 2013

challenge accepted!

Some of you may know me from an old blog I ran. If you're following me from there, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your loyal readership. I hope you find a home here.

I've been asked by some why I closed down the other blog. The answer is simple, yet heartbreaking (for me) all at the same time. I closed it over a year ago, when the trials I began to endure hit me. Life took a sledgehammer to my knees, then double-backed where the wind was forever being knocked out of me. Or at least it seemed to go on forever, the hits just kept on coming. For so long I couldn't breathe. (This is all figuratively of course.) Most days I barely had the strength and desire to open my eyes, much less run a blog. Creativity became a thing of the past. Writing was foolhardy.

As time wore on, I softened. Before I knew it, I was being molded into something new. And as I willed my eyes to open, they did so in the most profound way. First I learned to let go of the things I had no control over, then I learned to not be angry because of them. Honestly, I spent a good six months so angry. But God softened my heart little by little, and as these new beautiful things came into view, I realized how much I had grown, and marveled at how happy that growth made me.

Thus the end of the old blog. As I grew and learned to let go, I realized it was time to let go of many other things. That old blog was as dead as many other areas of my life, and I was essentially fighting a losing battle. So it's closing for good.

But why the new blog?

"I have one rule: New is always better."

No, really! (How good is that show, am I right?) Because I love to write and create and share. When I started the other blog I had no real direction for it. I honestly knew nothing about blogging except that they existed and I was fascinated by them. I've had a strong hearts desire to get back to blogging for many months now, though I have taken my time and thought diligently about this new space in the blogosphere. Six months of thought and planning, and here we are. NewlyMynted is a place for women to gather, where we can stand together and grow to be amazing beings. Where we can find confidence in our inner beauty, unleash our creativity like wildfire, live life practically; and love and grow and hope.

I hope this explains to those of you who have asked. And thanks for taking the time to get to know this softened side of me. This gal I am today, I think she's awesome! She's tons of fun and loves to laugh. Next week I plan to share with you all a couple of tutorials, one I worked on with my girls. I even hope to get to share my darling kiddos with you.

Oh, and please link up your blogs, Facebook pages, Etsy shops ... whatever you've got. I would love the chance to get to know so many of you.